Will County Gazette

The Illinois Legislature didn’t address property tax reform during its 2020 session, but don’t blame state Rep. Mark Batinick (R-Plainfield).

“I have supported property tax relief since I arrived in Springfield,” said the third-term Republican. “The current crisis only exacerbates the situation. I would hope there is bipartisan support but I am unsure.”

Batinick represents the 97th District, which includes portions of Oswego, Montgomery, Naperville, Plainfield, Bolingbrook, Joliet and Shorewood.

The Legislature did not invest much time on property tax reform this year, with the session disrupted by concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic. It adjourned on March 16 and returned for a special session slated for three days on May 20.

But the final gathering this year was extended for a fourth day, actually extending until after midnight Sunday before convening. The Legislature, with both houses controlled by Democrats and Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker pushing for a $40 billion budget for fiscal year 2021, ignored property tax.

Days before the legislators resumed the session, Pritzker said he would consider solutions for the property tax problem that has plagued the state for years.

But it was not on the table during the shortened final session. 

Instead, the budget was passed, patching an $8 billion hole with the use of federal dollars, and a tax break for a potential owner of a Chicago casino was approved.

The only piece of property tax-related news was a 120-day extension without interest or penalties for property owners and an automatic extension for seniors and disabled people.

Batinick said more could — and should — have been done.

“I would’ve like to seen property tax freeze to go along with it,” he told Will County Gazette. “We need shared sacrifice.”

He has called for property tax reform since joining the Legislature in 2015.

In October, he told Will County Gazette that two major problems must be addressed.

“Pensions and property taxes, those are the biggest drivers for everything,” Batinick said. “One of the reasons for optimism is that citizens have the right to vote when it comes to Gov. Pritzker’s proposed progressive income tax. We’ll see what they do on this constitutional amendment. It’s going to be really close. We need reforms; more taxes isn’t going to solve our problem.”

He pointed to an Illinois Issues poll that said more and more residents are considering leaving the state, with 61 percent saying the idea has been on their mind, and 27 percent citing higher taxes as the main reason. People with household incomes over $100,000 make up more than two-thirds of the people considering leaving the Land of Lincoln.

Batinick works as a commercial real estate broker and owns a home services company, primarily working with small business owners. He said “hostile taxation and regulation policies” are pushing people out of the state.

“I have lost track of the number of clients that have talked about expanding or have expanded out of state because of Illinois' poor business environment,” he said on his campaign website. “We have high property taxes, high worker’s compensation rates, high gas taxes, high sales taxes, and high business taxes. All that has lead to high unemployment.”

One way to make the state more attractive to property owners and businesses is to reduce property taxes. Lowering the heavy financial loan pensions have placed on the back of taxpayers can help lower the property tax burden as well, Batinick explains in a brief, animated, informative YouTube video.

Property taxes are regressive, he said, hitting the poor, unemployed and elderly particularly hard. A phased-in plan can provide real property tax relief.